POTC2 Secrets of the Emerald
by Tiana378
Summary: Jack is out taking his first ship for his fleet when he makes a shocking discovery aboard the ship...


_**Pirates of the Caribbean 2 - Secrets of the Emerald**_

_Jack is out taking his first ship for his fleet when he makes a shocking discovery aboard the ship..._

"Captain, we're gaining on the Emerald!" someone hollered from the crow's nest. The men on the deck stopped their duties and gazed out on the horizon. The sun reflected off the water, which was still and smooth as glass. They grinned as they found their weapons and hoisted their black flag. The captain shouted orders and turned the ship's massive wheel towards the East. They gained on their victim ship like a wild cat stalking its prey. Soon they could see the people on the other ship -- little expressionless figures scampering around, trying to prepare for an attack.

"Prepare to board!" Jack ordered as his own crew scurried about the deck like rats, "Take everything worthy! And make it quick!"

As their ship stormed up on the Emerald, Jack got his own weapon ready. He wouldn't kill anyone -- no, not today. Only if they refused to give up their ship. Then he would kill the captain and the captain only. The crew he could use on board the Pearl… It would be a nice start to his fleet. The Pearl and the Emerald. The two names sounded like they were meant to be together. Jack held his pistol at his shoulder and grinned as they arrived within sword-length of the Emerald. His men roared as they boarded the ship, threatening anyone in the way and looting anything they lay their hungry eyes on. The men on the ship were very weak and poorly dressed, and the place was in complete disarray. He guessed it must be a ship of a feeble place.

Jack walked onto the other ship and casually strolled into the Captain's quarters. A man was inside, and Jack pointed his pistol at the man's head.

"Step aside and I won' hurt you, savvy?" he said simply, "I'm in no mood to kill today."

The man reeled around with a shocked expression on his face, but sneered at Jack when he saw who was threatening him, "Jack Sparrow, isn't it?"

Jack looked at the man suspiciously, "It's Captain Jack Sparrow... But aye, that's me name."

"Thought so….a pirate always knows another pirate when 'e sees one."

Jack lowered his pistol for an instant before bringing it back up again, "What?" he asked sceptically.

"I commandeered this ship from the British. I be a pirate, too. You don' want ter take a ship from me now, do ye?"

Jack thought only for a second before answering, "Aye. Hand over the ship or I shoot."

The man was shocked at Jack's answer.

"Now you've only left me with one option, mate," Jack grinned, "Get on the jolly boat and float away with your little crew, or I kill you. Ye look like the type of man tha' would commit mutiny on your cap'n. And that will be a problem."

The Emerald's captain glared at Jack with devil's eyes. Jack glared back.

"Do it," Jack demanded, still holding up his pistol.

The man seemed to realize he had no other choice and started to walk cautiously out the cabin's door. Jack followed him. The Emerald's captain was almost out the door when he suddenly lunged to the left and snatched a sword off the table, catching Jack off guard and knocking the pistol to the floor. Jack's eyes grew wide as they darted from left to right, and he swallowed nervously. He backed up to stop the end of the blade from touching his throat but bumped into a wall. The sword was inches away -- he could almost feel it breathing on his neck like a snake ready to lunge. One jab and he was dead.

"What now, Sparrow?" the man sneered, "Do you want to leave me with only one option?"

Jack had nowhere to go. The silver blade of the sword was right on his throat and the wall was right on his back.

----

"W-w-what say we run up a truce?" Jack stuttered, "I go outside and tell my men to --"

The man laughed a deep, cold laugh, "Shut up, you fool. I'm not about to strike a bargain with a man who was just about to send me out to sea with nothin' but a boat and a useless crew!"

Jack felt the end of the sword touch the little dip at the bottom of his throat. He was scrambling for a plan when all of a sudden the man lurched forward with his stomach and his eyes grew wide. It looked as if he was about to vomit. The sword would have pierced Jack if he hadn't jumped to the side. He looked at the man, who stared blankly at the wall. Then the man opened his mouth as if to speak and a bubble of blood popped and slowly trickled down his chin. Jack looked around him as he collapsed to the ground. There was a sword in his back and a figure standing in the doorway.

"Anamaria," he grinned.

"Don't take this to mean I've forgiven you, Jack. I only saved you because I know you're totally hopeless on your own."

Jack rolled his eyes and stepped over the body on the ground.

"And when you're saving someone…" she continued with a smile, "It's best to wait…. Until the opportune moment."

Jack laughed and gave Anamaria her sword back. Then he retrieved his own pistol off the ground. They were headed out the door when Gibbs ran up to them in a frenzy.

"JACK!" he hollered, "JACK! You've got to come see this! The bloody man was a devil!"

Worried, Jack picked up a jog and followed Gibbs below deck. It smelled awful down there and it was only dark enough for a bat to see.

Anamaria pulled a chain which turned on a light bulb, revealing the hell that was kept within the ship.

There were more brigs in this ship than any other ship Jack had seen before. Most of them looked like they were just recently made to hold more captives. As they walked in horror through the brigs, they gazed into them to see what was inside.

There were bodies. Men and women, on the ground, on the benches. Every single one of them was dead. It looked like they had died from starvation and thirst. Jack almost gagged at the terrifying sights he was witnessing. There must have been a hundred captives. The man was a menace.

Jack continued down the brigs alone -- the rest of his crew couldn't handle it. Dead. All the people inside the cells were dead. Then he thought he saw something move.

"Hello?" he called into the brig, "Is anybody alive in here?"

He hoped he would find someone who was alive… so he could help them. Suddenly he heard a moaning sound coming from one of the cells and then a hoarse voice.

"J…J-Jack?" it whispered, "Sparrow?"

Jack lunged over to the cell that the voice was coming from. A figure at the back tried to stand up but fell. It stumbled over to the door.

"Ja-ack!"

Jack's knees almost gave way as he realised who it was inside the cell.

---

"Elizabeth!" Jack exclaimed in sheer horror, and tried to say more but he couldn't. His throat had dried out in less than a second.

Elizabeth was sobbing uncontrollably, gripping the iron bars of the brig. Jack reached his hand out and held hers in comfort. Her hand was as blue and as cold as the ocean.

"It's going to be okay, Elizabeth. I promise you I'll get you out of here." He stuttered. He was shocked as he found his eyes filling with tears.

He frantically looked around for something to open the cell with. Where are the bloody keys?! His eyes darted around the dark quarters. No keys. Even if there was, he couldn't see them anywhere from the darkness.

He looked carefully at the door that entrapped Elizabeth. There was an enormous lock. He traced his fingers over to the other side of the iron door. They wrapped around a half-pin barrel hinge.

_Half-pin barrel hinges_, he thought, searching his memory.

Leverage! With the right amount of leverage, and the proper application of strength… the door will lift free. Jack ran over to the edge of the room and grabbed a long plank that sat in the corner. Then he jammed it into one of the holes of the brig and used all his might to lift the door off its hinges. Finally, after using all his body weight, the door popped off its hinges and hit the ground with a loud clang. Elizabeth fell forward and collapsed into Jack's arms, too weak to even support her own body weight.

Jack looked down at her closed eyes and wondered frantically if she died. No, she was still breathing. She just passed out or fainted. Probably from hunger and thirst. He lifted her up and brought the limp body up to the sunlight. She weighed less than as if he carried a sandbag. He kicked open the door to the chamber and the whole crew gasped in terror at what they saw.

"That's Elizabeth Swann!" Anamaria said quietly.

"Someone get me some water! And food!" Jack barked, laying her down on the deck.

Cotton came running over with a goblet of water and a loaf of bread. Jack sat Elizabeth up and put the goblet to her lips. She came half-conscious it seemed, because she reached up and drank the water greedily. Jack looked at her sadly. He had never seen any living person so thin. Her clothes were limp and torn and seemed five sizes too big. Well… At least she would be able to fit into her corset easily now. She was all bones.

"Come on everyone, back to the Pearl. Save a few of you. Anamaria…" he paused for a moment, "I want you to be the captain of this ship. I may need you to care for Elizabeth, but I can handle it for the time being."

---

Jack placed Elizabeth down on his bed and put water and food beside her. He reached down and moved the hair off her face. She was white as the sails on the Emerald. Deep down inside, he was glad Anamaria killed that devilish captain. That was part of the reason why he gave her the ship. She deserved it more than anyone else.

The Emerald was sailing quite a ways ahead of the Pearl now, and Jack carefully stood up to resume his captain duties. He snuck out of the room quietly and grabbed a hold of the large wheel, steering his ship to catch up. The Pearl was parallel to the Emerald in no time flat, and Jack shouted to Anamaria to change course and head to Tortuga. He wanted to bring Elizabeth to land so she could rest. From there, they would sail to Port Royal.

"Captain Sparrow," Gibbs called over, "It looks as if a storm's brewin'… we should pick up the pace a bit."

"Aye!" Jack yelled, glancing into the sky where the clouds shifted about, "Tighten the main sail! We need ter save as much time as we can!"

As the two ships glided through the sea towards Tortuga, Jack couldn't help but wonder if Elizabeth would make it alive. He had no idea how long she was held captive… or why. The entire Royal Navy was probably out looking for her. The wind whistled through Jack's dreadlocks as the storm seemed to follow them closely on their route to land.

A couple hours later they seemed to be out of the storm's reach again, and Jack's face grew dark as he thought of Elizabeth's grave condition. She could barely stand up. He sighed deeply and put ropes on the wheel to hold it in place as he walked again into the captain's quarters.

Jack lifted his dirt-caked hand and knocked lightly on the door. Nobody answered, so he pushed it open a bit and poked his head in. Elizabeth was still on the bed, but the water and bread were gone. He snuck into the room and picked up the silver goblet to re-fill it with water. As he was picking it up, a thin and bony hand reached out from the bed and grabbed Jack's wrist. Jack whirled his head to the right and looked into Elizabeth's empty eyes.

"Jack," she said quietly, her voice coming back to normal. There was a long pause before she spoke again. "Thank you."

Jack sat down on the bed.

"No need to thank me, luv. I only did what any man with a mind and a heart would do."

Elizabeth looked over to the small window that revealed the rolling waves of the ocean.

"Why did they take you?" Jack asked her.

Elizabeth looked into Jack's deep brown eyes. "I don't know. They're pirates and that's what pirates do."

"Maybe those pirates do, but any man I know would never do a thing like that to such a fair lady."

Elizabeth looked away again.

"We're heading to Tortuga, where ye can recover properly and we can clean up the Emerald… When you're better I promise I will take ye back to Port Royal. Your father and Will are looking for ye, no doubt."

"Thank you Jack…" Elizabeth said quietly, before hesitantly adding, "You're a good man."

Jack was surprised at her comment. He stood up and took the goblet again, not knowing exactly what to say.

"I'll get you some more water and food," he said finally.

---

"Captain!" someone called to the struggling pirate at the wheel, "The Emerald has fallen out of sight! We should drop campus… she can't handle it!"

"We're almost there!" the rain-soaked Jack yelled back.

The storm howled and screamed, and the rain attacked Jack's face like a hailstorm. The feeling in his fingers was gone and the only thing keeping him going was knowing that land rested so near. The Emerald behind them bobbed in and out of vision. She was clearly not as strong a ship as the Pearl, but she was still faster and better than any regular ship.

Jack hoped Elizabeth was doing okay in the captain's quarters. Nobody had a free moment to check on her, so she was to fend for herself in there. She had been eating and drinking as much as her frail body could handle in the past couple days, which was not much more than a mouse could eat, but she was still undoubtedly stronger than when they found her.

When the two ships finally arrived at Tortuga, everyone was too exhausted to speak or celebrate. There was even a tear in one of the Emerald's sails. That ship needed a lot of repairs and cleaning. For one, the bodies in the prison below had to be removed. Secondly, it was in complete disarray.

Jack stepped off his ship and looked around. He felt quite dizzy and off-balance as he walked around it, tying it securely to the dock. Once Anamaria finished tying up her ship, they all decided to get some sleep and clean the Emerald in the morning. Jack hadn't slept for over a day and was too tired to think straight. It felt like that time he got heat stroke, only slightly less nauseating.

He opened the door to his quarters and saw Elizabeth sound asleep. There was a bucket beside her bed, which Jack found to have vomit in it. Sea-sickness. He curled his upper lip and looked away, then opened up a drawer and pulled out an extra sheet to sleep on. Then he placed it on the hard ground and slept there for the night.

Jack awoke to find the sun risen to almost the middle of the sky. He slept long! Hearing activity on the ship next to his, he guessed that his crew was busy cleaning up the Emerald. He rolled over and looked up into his bed. Elizabeth was sitting up eating breakfast.

"How'd you sleep down there, Jack?" she asked him once she saw he was awake, "You should have moved me to the ground… this is your bed. You must have been terribly uncomfortable."

"Don' be ridiculous, Elizabeth," he replied, "Ye need that bed much more than I do."

The truth was, he was terribly uncomfortable… but he knew that Elizabeth needed the bed more.

"I'm going out to help me crew," he said as he stood up, grunting at the stiffness in his neck and back.

Elizabeth watched him as he stepped out the door into sunlight.

"Do you think I'll be able to help soon?" she asked before he shut the door all the way.

"Aye, luv. Yer making a fast recovery. Of course, you're a lady… ye don't have to help if ye don't want."

"I do." Elizabeth said to him, smiling slightly for the first time.

---

The afternoon went by quickly as Jack and his crew cleaned up their ships. The only place left to clean now was below deck of the Emerald. They didn't know what to do. Where were they to put the bodies? Perhaps they should dispose of them in the ocean. But how were they to move the bodies? Nobody wanted to carry them! Jack decided that they should pay someone else to do the dirty work.

He walked into the loud, riot of a town. It smelled of rum and dirt… not to mention sweat and animals, and there was probably not one sober person in the whole place. He walked into the main street and began to approach random people.

"Excuse me. You, mate!" Jack called to a man walking about aimlessly, "I will pay you…" He dug into his pockets. "…Ten shillings! If ye can clean below deck of the ship I jus' stole."

The man stopped and looked suspiciously at Jack, swaying drunkenly.

"Wha's the catch?" he asked in a gruff voice. He spoke rather close to Jack's face and Jack had to lean back to avoid inhaling the man's rotten-smelling breath.

"Uhm… well ye see," Jack started, putting his arm around the man and walking back to the docks, "The man who previously owned the ship was somewhat of a… menace, and well… there are jus'… a few… dead bodies down there," he explained, waving his free hand around.

The man stopped in his tracks and laughed in Jack's face.

"Ye couldn' pay me a hundred shillin's ter clean tha', mate! Go fin' another man ter do yer filthy job."

He took off at a fast walk and left Jack standing in the middle of the road to find another person. As he stared blankly after his lost co-worker, a team of horses came up behind him and nearly ran him face-first into the ground. He had to jump out of the way at the last second when he felt them breathing down his neck. The man driving the cart was to drunk to even notice and just continued along his way.

"Bloody hell…" Jack mumbled to himself.

By the time Jack found a man desperate enough for money to clean the ship, it was well after sundown. Perhaps it was better that it was dark. It would help everyone to not see all the gory details. The moon was full and the clouds were almost gone, leaving an endless black hole over their heads, with millions of twinkling eyes watching their every move.

As the man worked on clearing out the ship, Jack and a few other crew members went into town for a drink. They were just heading over when Elizabeth stepped out of the cabin.

"Wait!" she called to Jack, making her way over to the end of the dock, "I want to come, too!"

Jack looked at Anamaria and the other crew members that were coming along and shrugged.

"Fine by me!" he called back.

"I've always wanted to see what a pirate's town looks like," she explained to Jack as they walked. Her bones still stuck out like a skeleton's. She looked as if she was cursed by moonlight, but still had her skin draped over her like a thin sheet. Jack noticed the beautiful dip in her cheek was now being sucked into her mouth from lack of food. Her face looked pale still, but she was looking much more fit to live.

As they entered the main part of the bizarre little village, Jack stopped and took hold of Elizabeth's bony arm, pulling her close to his face, "Just remember this, luv: Keep a sharp eye. Ye never know what scoundrels are running around Tortuga. And a lady like yerself is sure to get into trouble… if ye know what I mean."

Elizabeth smiled and pulled away. "I can fend for myself, thank you very much!"

"Don't be afraid to slap someone," Anamaria told her with a smile. Jack winced.

---

"Once we bring the lass back to Port Royal," Jack explained to Gibbs over a drink in their favourite bar, "I was thinkin' we head south n' find some ships for my fleet down there. We could use a few more hands on the ships, too. Who d' ye think we should take along?"

"We'll find some crew members… don't you fret Jack." Gibbs replied through gulps of his drink.

They sat silent for a few moments, guzzling their drinks while watching a fight on the large table in the middle of the room. When they finished, they decided to catch up with Anamaria and Elizabeth, who had run off together to go to a clothing store. Elizabeth seemed happy to be in the company of another woman for a change.

Jack and Gibbs walked down the road and turned into the store where the ladies said they would be. Oddly enough, they weren't there. Jack wasn't surprised though, the selection of clothes was awful. They decided to try Anamaria's favourite bar, where there weren't quite so many fights and the light wasn't quite as dim. The light was still very dim of course, but at least you could see what you were drinking.

They walked into the bar and were greeted by a massive disturbance of a fight between Anamaria and another man who apparently tried to hit on her. Jack had to push people out of the way as he broke through the crowded room, only to find Anamaria sitting on top of the man, slapping his face left and right. He was holding her neck with a free hand, while she pinned the other one with her knee. When he got his arm out from under her knee, he grabbed her arms and pushed her off of him, and soon he was pulling her hair and holding a strong arm around her neck.

"BREAK IT UP!" Jack hollered at the top of his lungs, only causing the room to pause for a second before becoming a riot again. Then he couldn't take it and jumped on top of the tangled mess, grabbing them both by their hair and pulling them separate ways.

"I'd better not see you again!" Anamaria yelled, pointing a shaking finger at the beaten-up man.

"ANAMARIA! What in bloody hell were you thinking?!" Jack shouted at her, "You --"

"Jaackkk!" she yelled happily, "How nice of you to show up this fine evening!"

Jack looked at her, a perplexed look on his face. "Are you… drunk?" he asked her, still holding her by the hair.

"Nnnooo!" she said with a laugh.

Jack stared at her.

"Well okay, but me and Elizabeth were having so much fun… we both kinda got a little bit drunk. You know Elizabeth is a much more fun person when she's hammered," she said through hiccups.

"Elizabeth! I forgot about the lass! Where is she?"

"Oh she's around somewhere…"

Jack looked at Anamaria, who stood half-seated while Jack supported her by her hair. He let her go and she fell over. Then she stood up and wobbled for a bit before walking off to get another drink with Gibbs.

He looked around for Elizabeth, hoping she was doing okay. Maybe all the drinking would ease her pain. He only saw a few people at the bar… a few wenches flirting with some men at their tables… another wench kissing the bartender…

Jack had to double-take.

"ELIZABETH!" he shouted in shock.

The wench he saw kissing the bartender was not in fact an ordinary lass from Tortuga. It was Elizabeth, who looked around the bartender's head in shock as Jack called her name. She pushed the bartender off of her and stood up straight.

"What?" she inquired innocently, walking in a somewhat straight line over to Jack.

"What in the hell are you doing?!"

"I was just… well I don't know… enjoying Tortuga?"

Jack sighed and pulled her away. "Come on, luv. We're going to find Ana, and then we're going back to the ship! I have a feeling you'll thank me for this once you're sober."

---

"Sparrow! What happened to the lasses?" asked a crew member as Jack brought Anamaria and Elizabeth back to the ships.

"They got 'hold of a little too much rum, apparently," Jack said with a laugh as he escorted the two giggling ladies into a cabin. "Now you two stay in here! Go to sleep and…" Jack grabbed a couple buckets and placed them by their beds. "…I'm going to put these buckets here, just in case."

"Why?" asked Elizabeth, "Am I sick?"

Jack looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "Ye've never been this drunk before, have ye?"

Elizabeth seemed to be deep in thought, "No. No, not even when we were stuck on that island," she giggled, "That was fun. You should have seen the look on your face when you got up and saw that BIG fire, and --"

"Alright, Elizabeth, just go to sleep," Jack interrupted, grabbing her wrists and stopping her from making too extravagant of hand gestures and knocking something over.

"Okay," she whispered, putting her finger over her lips.

Jack lay her down on the bed and want over to Anamaria, but she seemed to be sleeping like a log.

When they were both sleeping soundly, Jack decided it was safe to leave them and they wouldn't try to crawl out a window. He returned to the Emerald to see how the man was coming along with the cleaning.

A pile of thin, bony bodies greeted Jack on the other dock where the Emerald slept. The man who agreed to do the filthy task was just descending below deck with a bucket of soapy water to scrub the floors when Jack arrived. The other crew members had stopped their game of cards and were now going about fixing the sails and repairing the holes in the sides of the ship. Jack went down the short stairwell to the dungeon below.

"Almost done?" he asked the man, who stopped scrubbing when he heard Jack come down the stairs.

"Aye… these floors jus' need a bit o' scrubbing, and that'll about do it."

Jack looked around the room and began to walk slowly in and out of the cells, looking for anything that might have been left behind or any holes in the walls. He found nothing that needed looking-after.

Once the floor was scrubbed and the ship cleaned, Jack paid the man his ten shillings plus a couple for a tip, and everyone went to bed for the night. The next morning they were to sail to Port Royal, where Elizabeth would be re-united with her dear William.

---

"Hoist the sails!" ordered Jack from the wheel of the Pearl. They were setting off that morning to Port Royal. The wind was strong and heading in the direction they wanted to go, which was giving Jack the desire to sail more than ever.

The crew was working fast and hard to get the ships out to sea, and Anamaria was surprisingly well enough to captain the Emerald. Before long, both ships were flying through the salty waters of the bay towards the immense ocean where they would be sailing for the week.

At about noon that day, Jack was surprised to see Elizabeth step out from her cabin and onto the deck. She shielded her eyes against the blinding rays of the sun and looked around for something to occupy herself with.

Jack took up the ropes that lay on the deck beside him and placed them on the handles of the wheel to hold it in place. He then walked over to Elizabeth and asked her how she was doing.

"I'm fine, thank you," she replied with a smile, "My head is throbbing other than that I feel fine."

Jack smiled back and took a seat to sharpen his sword. Elizabeth watched him intently.

"Jack," she asked hesitantly after a while, "Do you think… you can teach me how to use a sword properly?"

Jack looked up at her and stopped what he was doing. "Of course, luv…" he began, "You want to learn to fight do ye?"

Elizabeth smiled and nodded.

"I'll get ye a cutlass," Jack said as he made his way below deck to get an unused weapon for her. When he came back up, she was eagerly waiting by the doorway.

"First," Jack began, handing Elizabeth the cutlass, "I'll teach ye how to hold it properly…"

Jack and Elizabeth practiced proper battle technique for hours it seemed, and after only a few scratches and dropping of the cutlass, she seemed to be getting the hang of it fairly well.

"So what exactly happened last night?" Elizabeth asked Jack as they practiced, "All I remember is a bar, and me and Ana just kept drinking…"

Jack smirked, feeling clever. "Uhm… Well, I found you in the bar. You were conscious… but um…"

Elizabeth looked at him with a slightly puzzled, slightly worried look on her face.

"You were kissing the bartender."

Elizabeth dropped her sword when Jack made another swipe.

"I did WHAT?" she shrieked in disbelief, "I'm sorry Jack but I don't believe you. I don't think I'd ever kiss someone else besides Will, and especially a filthy pirat--"

She stopped herself in mid-sentence and her eyes grew wide. Jack grinned devilishly at her.

"Oh my gosh…" she said quietly. Jack was laughing the hardest he'd laughed in a while.

Elizabeth looked at him and whacked him on the back with the side of her sword, cracking a grin herself. "Shush up Jack… don't tell anyone." she pleaded.

Jack looked at her suspiciously, "Alrigh', alrigh'…" he agreed, waving it away with his hand, "Now I'll teach ye more with yer cutlass tomorrow."

He walked over to the wheel to re-direct their course. Elizabeth shook her head and let out a laugh in self-disbelief as she submerged back into her cabin.

---

The next morning as Jack was raising the anchor, he was surprised to see Elizabeth over on the Emerald, playing a game of Poker with Anamaria and some other members of the crew. He scratched his head and thought for a minute.

"How in the hell did you get over there?" he said finally.

Elizabeth turned around and grinned at Jack. "We were anchored close enough to each other that Ana showed me how to use that rope up there to swing over to her ship," she shouted back, pointing up to a rope that hung loose over Jack's head.

Jack raised an eyebrow at them before turning to walk over to the wheel, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Hold on Jack, I'm coming back over!" he heard Elizabeth call, and he turned around to see her climbing up the mast to swing across the ships. Then she grabbed a loose rope and swung across the gap, landing as if she had done it a million times.

"I'm glad to see you're feeling better," he said jokingly, although he still noticed her shoulder blades sticking unnaturally out of her back.

Elizabeth smiled at him, "I really am."

"SIR!" Gibbs called frantically, running over to Jack and flailing his arms, "I think Cotton wants to tell us something!"

Jack looked behind Gibbs and saw Cotton jogging over with a spyglass, making his parrot wobble about on his shoulder. He gave Jack the spyglass and pointed towards the south, while his parrot chanted "Wind in the sails, weigh the anchor, swab the deck…"

Jack looked through the spyglass and saw nothing. The ocean was going on for miles and it was still as glass. The clouds in the sky were white and fluffy, and there was absolutely nothing to be seen for -- He felt a hand reach up and move the spyglass a few inches to the right.

A ship. Not just any ship. It had a huge, black, dreadful flag waving in the small breeze that carried through the sky. It was moving incredibly fast and would catch up to them in less than twenty minutes.

More pirates. Jack slapped shut the spyglass and gulped nervously. Everyone around him had stopped what they were doing and were looking to him for a plan. There was nothing to do. It was gaining on them faster than they could get sailing again, and the wind was not in their favour.

"Make ready the guns," he said quietly. He had a feeling they were about to engage in an extremely difficult battle.

---

The crew stood along the edge of their two ships and watched helplessly as the enemy gained on them. Soon they could see the very picture on the flag. It was Robert Barrman. The man known for having one hand and one leg and still undefeated after twenty years of battles.

"Time to fight!" called Anamaria suddenly from the Emerald. The crew made final preparations on their weapons and waited for Jack to give the cue. Elizabeth looked worriedly at Jack, who had just given her last-minute tips on fighting. She only had less than two days of practicing and she was already forced to put her skills to use.

Barrman's ship was upon them now, and Jack could hear the fierce shouts and threats coming from the crew. He could see Barrman himself standing proudly at the front centre, ready to attack any second. The shouts and hollers coming from each side were deafening, and Jack could barely be heard when he yelled "FIRE!" at the top of his lungs.

The cannons and guns were all fired at almost the same moment, and the battle began with hundreds of explosions. There were already men flailing about in the water after being knocked off their ship by a cannon. Before anyone knew it, people were swinging and climbing over to the Pearl and the Emerald, thrashing their thick swords around in threat.

Jack found himself climbing the mast of his ship and making his way across to Barrman. Barrman was the only one he wanted killed, and he would make sure it happened. As he shimmied across a rope that was linked across the ships, he saw his faithful crew below him, battling for their freedom and lives. He could see Anamaria attacking a man, first blocking his attempt and then throwing his sword off hers and driving it towards his chest. He seemed to have blocked hers, but she was too quick at regaining her coordination and plunged it into his stomach, sending him collapsing to the ground in a growing puddle of blood. All the while, another man was advancing on Anamaria from behind, and Jack wanted to shout to her to watch out behind her back. There was no need, however, because she seemed to have that sixth sense and whirled around just in time to block his strike and return the favour.

Elizabeth was in her own battle just off to the left of Anamaria, and she seemed to be doing fine with a sword. There were a couple times where she looked to have gotten close to being stabbed, but she seemed to be very well coordinated when she fought. Jack was amazed when he saw the sword drive into the man and come out the other side. Elizabeth seemed to have shocked herself too, for she let go of the sword and jumped backward for a minute while the man collapsed to the ground. Then she seemed to realise she was unarmed and withdrew the blood-soaked sword from the man's stomach and set off to find another person to slay.

Jack continued his shimmy across the rope and began to slide down the mast of Robert's ship. He then withdrew his sword from his sash and looked around for the captain.

"Sparrow," he heard someone say bleakly from behind him.

---

Jack reeled around to see Robert Barrman standing there with his sword pointed at him, and Jack lifted his own sword eyelevel to them both. Barrman was a very thick man, although about the same height as Jack. He had a long black beard and wore ratty clothes that added to the bloodcurdling effect. The hook on his hand was silver while the peg on his foot was an old wood that looked like it needed to be replaced.

"We meet at last," Robert said in his drawling voice.

Jack slid his sword along Barrman's and stepped forward, "How unfortunate for you."

With that comment, Robert lunged forward at Jack and made a swipe for his waist. Jack leapt backward to avoid it and then swiped his own sword across, sending the other one ricocheting back to its owner. Jack then made a stab towards Robert, but was blocked and thrown backwards. They clashed swords a few times and then Jack surprised him with a quick jump onto a rope hanging above and swung up to a higher point of the ship, where there was more elbow room. It took a while for Barrman to register what just happened, and even longer for him to climb up with his handicaps. Jack took the opportunity to throw a bucket at his head. He succeeded in landing the bucket over his head and blinding him for a moment, but once Robert managed to take the bucket off his head, he was fuming with anger. Jack could almost see smoke coming out of his ears -- which was in fact coming from his beard that was smoking at the ends.

Jack was fully prepared when Barrman landed on the deck above. He lunged out from where he was standing and caught Barrman in the arm, making a thick cut that would require stitching. It wasn't enough though: he still fought like nothing happened. The two swords clashed and knocked each other out of the way, often sending its owner stumbling backward. Then Barrman managed to make Jack step backwards enough that he was actually leaning over the edge of the ship. One more knock of the sword from him sent Jack toppling over backwards, falling over the side of the ship and making a fast plunge towards the sea. The fall was long enough that he had time to think in mid-air, and he grabbed onto a cannon as he was falling and stopped himself from landing in the ocean. Then he jumped up onto it and looked up at Barrman, who was looking down at him. Jack gave him a 'nice try' smile and began climbing back up the side again.

Barrman was ready when Jack poked his head over the side, and he ended up with a large gash on his left cheek from the man's hook. The blood trickled into his mouth and he had to spit a few times as they continued trying to slaughter one another.

"HELP!"

He suddenly heard a woman screaming and spun around to see what had happened. It was a horrible mistake though, because he felt a searing pain burst through his leg and screamed in agony as he collapsed to the ground. Barrman was just making a jab as Jack spun around, and his sword drove through his lower leg, making a puncture that seemed to go all the way through the muscle. Barrman seemed shocked that he had got Jack so badly, and stood frozen for a moment while he realised what just happened. Jack writhed in pain as he lay on the ground, and all he could think about was how he wanted to murder the man that had caused him this grief. The sword stuck in his leg and the pain stuck in his nerves like nothing he'd ever experienced. He cried out in pain as he grabbed Robert's sword out of his leg and swiped his arm around with all his might, slicing Robert's stomach and making a lethal gash right through from left hip to right hip. The man sucked back, looking wide-eyed at his stomach and the blood that poured out of it like a waterfall. The slash went right through his skin, and if Jack could see clearly, he imagined he'd be seeing organs.

Barrman collapsed to the ground next to Jack suddenly, and Jack rolled out of the way to avoid being bathed in the man's blood. His eyes were blurry and he saw double of everything. He hoped he wouldn't lose so much blood it became fatal.

"HELP! PLEASE!" came the begging cry again. Jack lifted his head and forced himself to stay focused. Who was it screaming, Anamaria or Elizabeth? There were only two possibilities. What was happening?

He struggled to get up and limped over to the side of the platform he was on. Looking below, he saw nothing but a blur of people fighting… a blur of crimson blood flooding the deck… a blur of silver swords reflecting the sun.

"HELP!" came one last desperate cry, and Jack whipped his head around to where the sound was coming from, just in time to see Elizabeth fighting for her life as she was carried below deck.

---

Jack grabbed onto a rope and slid as fast as he could down to the main deck, making sure to land on his good leg only. The leg with the gash was like a bloody waterfall, and Jack slipped on his own blood when he ran. The pain was so great now that he felt numb through his whole leg. Everything that happened seemed so distant… like he was walking in a nightmare that he couldn't wake up from.

He made it to the door finally and leaned against it, his breathing laboured. Looking through the window he saw Elizabeth being carried down the stairs, but lost her once they descended lower.

"Get in there, wench," the man who carried Elizabeth said bluntly as he threw her into the cell.

"No! Please no! Don't put me back into one of these hell holes!" Elizabeth screamed, and Jack could tell she was crying.

Jack heard the man struggling to lock the brig. Elizabeth was kicking against it and screaming for help. He opened the door slowly and crept down the dark stairs, allowing his eyes time to adjust. He could hear a leak in the ship below now, and guessed the floor was probably flooding. The man was leaning against the door to shut it while Elizabeth kicked at his legs and pushed the door with all her might that was left. Jack crept up behind him and withdrew his pistol, trying his best to put his pain behind him and focus on what he was doing.

"GET IN THERE!" the man shouted fiercely at Elizabeth. But Elizabeth fought back and was causing the man as much grief as she could, all the while shrieking for help. The man seemed to give up for a minute, for he released his grip on the door. However he quickly replaced his hands over Elizabeth's neck and began choking her, stifling her screams.

Jack felt he was close enough to attack now, so he leapt forward and quickly pressed the pistol against the man's fat head and held his other arm around his neck, still feeling rather half-conscious.

"Let her go!" Jack said through gritted teeth.

The man jumped and dropped the keys into the water flooding the ship, trying to move his eyes as far as they could to see who it was that was threatening him.

"Jack!" Elizabeth breathed, relief spreading across her face.

"Open the damned brig!" Jack repeated, pressing the end of the pistol farther into the fat man's head.

Suddenly a deafening explosion filled the room and a cannon burst through the side of the ship, making the leak even larger and flooding the place even faster. The man took the opportunity to spin around and grab Jack around the neck, choking him now instead of Elizabeth. Jack's pistol fell into the water and he grabbed the man's arms, trying to pry the death grip off his neck to get air into his lungs. He couldn't breathe at all and he felt the world becoming even more distant from him.

_Why didn't I just kill him?!_ he thought frantically.

Water was pouring into the ship faster and faster, and Jack soon found himself up to his chest in water. His leg was making a river of blood, but at least the water didn't sting.

Suddenly the grip released slightly and he was able look the man in the eye. The man's eyes were rolling back in his head, and he began to collapse into the water. He was unconscious, and when Jack looked back up to where the man was standing, he saw Elizabeth standing there with Jack's pistol, which she had apparently used to crack him on the top of the head. He smiled but there was no time to thank her, for they both had to tread water now, and their heads were almost touching the ceiling.

"What do we do?!" called Elizabeth, sounding panicked.

Jack looked over to the stairway and realised it was the only way out.

"Head for the stairs!" he called to Elizabeth, and then he took one last breath.

---

He looked around him as he swam blindly under the dark water. The stairs were ahead of them and he could feel Elizabeth swimming along side of him. His leg was pretty much useless, only dragging behind him like a deadweight.

He began to have a desperate need for air. His lungs screamed at him and he kicked forward. Almost there… he felt the railing of the stairs. He felt Elizabeth's hand grab the railing too. He felt the stairs escalating up. He felt his feet touch the stairs as he pushed upward. He felt his lungs plead for air. Elizabeth was holding onto his arm. The door rested in front of them, blocking them from the world of breathing. It was shut tight. He turned the handle. It was hard to open, but the need for oxygen drove him to open it. He pulled with all his might and opened the door. He felt Elizabeth still holding his arm. He grabbed her around the waist and lifted them both out of the water, immediately gasping in a huge breath of air, just before he felt his lungs were about to collapse. He coughed and sputtered as he hungrily gasped for air, resting on his hands and knees while he got his feeling back in his limbs. Elizabeth was gagging and spluttering next to him, also bent over on her knees.

His breathing was slowing down again, but he still sucked in air greedily. Elizabeth lay on the deck on her back, still coughing. He looked over to her and she reached into her sash and pulled out a pistol. It was his pistol. Jack looked at it in disbelief. He thought he lost it forever down below deck. He looked up and smiled at her. She sat up and looked around.

"We should get to another ship, Jack," she said, her voice cracking, "This one's going down fast."

Jack looked around him and realised that they were still sinking, and the mast of this ship was about to go under. He tried to stand up but his leg collapsed beneath him. He tried again and began limping after Elizabeth, who was running through the watery deck toward the bow, where the Emerald was still floating just a few feet away from the sinking ship. She dove off the end, which by now was no drop at all, and immediately began swimming towards the Emerald, where she climbed up the side. Jack swam a ways after her, slowly and laboriously. Elizabeth looked behind her as she was climbing to see if Jack still followed, and reached out a hand to help him climb onto the ship with her. He took it, but still had great difficulty in climbing up the side. It seemed that the top would never come. They climbed up the ship and collapsed as soon as they reached the top, exhausted and aching.

Gibbs came over to them, looking concerned at their poor condition. Luckily the battle was over and most of the enemy had been killed. Those who remained were willing to help aboard the Pearl and the Emerald in exchange for their lives.

"Mary Mother of God!" Gibbs exclaimed as he broke to a run to meet the two victims, "What happened to ye?!"

Elizabeth looked over at Jack from where she kneeled and gasped when she saw his leg, and the flap of skin and muscle that hung from where his calf should have been.

"Jack…" she said quietly, crawling over to his side, "What happened?"

Jack could barely speak from exhaustion and pain, and the crew seemed to know how he was feeling because they were busy getting first aid items and rum to ease the pain. Elizabeth rolled Jack over to make him comfortable and rested his head on her lap.

"Someone get him something to kill the pain! Anything!" she shouted over her shoulder.

A figure came running over with a bottle of alcohol, and that was the last thing Jack remembered before he blacked out.

---

Jack woke up in his room and rolled over to look out the window to see the time of day. It was early morning. He winced as he moved his leg and suddenly remembered why he was here. He lifted the covers and looked at the back of his calf. It was stitched up and looked like there was no muscle left. It was the most horrible sight Jack had ever seen happen to himself. He lay back down on the bed and closed his eyes.

There was a knock at the door and someone walked in. Jack opened his eyes again and stared at the ceiling for a minute. He looked over and sat up as Elizabeth handed him some water and food.

"Now it's my turn to care for you," she said.

Jack took a drink and started to get out of the bed, "Thank ye, but I'm fine. I need te direct us toward Port Royal."

Elizabeth watched him as he attempted to get out of bed. It was pathetic to watch: Jack standing up then his leg buckling, then sitting down on the bed again, only to try and stand up once more.

"Just rest, Jack," Elizabeth said, "Mr. Gibbs is captaining the ship for now. We're still heading in the right direction, don't you fret."

Jack sighed and looked at his leg. "Alrigh', fine. I'm captaining this ship tomorrow though."

"Sure, Jack. Just stay here for today. You lost an excess amount of blood, and your body desperately needs rest."

Elizabeth stood up and placed the food on the small stand beside Jack's bed. Then she left the room quietly, shutting the door again behind her. Jack stared at the door blankly. He sighed deeply and rolled over again, trying to make himself sleep so the day would pass quickly. He hated just lying around… he wanted to stand, to be able to steer his ship and feel the spray of the sea on his face.

He lay in bed for several hours, just staring out the small window across from him, begging his mind to let him sleep. He closed his eyes and imagined himself standing at the helm, the salty sea drenching his face, making it numb with the cold. There was a whale frolicking about in the crystal clear water, and Jack was shouting orders to his fearless crew. The sails were to be tightened, and the deck needed cleaning. Someone was to --

Jack opened his eyes to see a sun rising in the sky outside the window. He heard a noise behind him and rolled over. Elizabeth was sitting on his bed giggling.

"You talk in your sleep, Jack," she said.

Jack smiled, "What do ye want, lass?"

"I was sent to check on you, and to give you more to drink so you'd continue to feel less pain."

Jack sat up and accepted the bottle of rum she offered him.

"We're almost to Port Royal," she continued, "You've been sleeping for nearly sixteen hours now. It's about four in the morning."

Jack looked at her in surprise and finished off his drink, "In that case, I think I can return to my captain duties, aye?"

Elizabeth looked a bit worried, "Alright, fine. Just don't strain yourself."

Jack stood up fairly easily and began limping over to the door, "See, it's fine! There be a bit o' a limp but I can walk can't I?"

Elizabeth smiled and stepped over to help him get out the door. Jack breathed in the fresh air when he stepped outside and grinned. The wheel of his ship was waiting patiently in front of him, ready to be directed once again for Port Royal.

---

The wind blew strong as the Pearl and the Emerald sailed towards Port Royal. Jack shut his eyes for a moment to stop the stinging, letting himself feel the icy wind on his eyelids. His knuckles were frozen to the wheel, and Jack thought he might take a few hours before he would be able to open his fist again.

"Captain!" called a crew member from the crow's nest, "We're approaching Port Royal."

Jack opened his eyes and looked ahead of them. There was only ocean to be seen. He took out his spyglass and searched for a bump in the water that would tell him that land was nearing.

"It'll only be a few hours now!" Jack called over his shoulder to the crew upon seeing a speck of land. The wind tossed the ship sideways and Jack's voice was lost in the loud hiss that swirled through the sky. Both ships sailed on a severe angle as they sliced through the waves. Crew members clung to the rail of the port side to avoid sliding down the deck and into the sea. Jack couldn't help but grin now that he knew land rested so close.

"Jack!" called Elizabeth as she struggled her way towards him, "We should wait out the wind, the ship looks like it will go over any moment now!"

"She can hold a bit longer!" Jack grinned, jerking the wheel over to straighten them out, "The wind will go as fast as it came!"

Elizabeth cast him a worried glance and began staggering back to the rest of the crew to help. Jack looked over his shoulder and saw people running about, frantically bailing water off the deck. The Emerald sailed to their right, also bobbing in the waves on a complete angle. Jack's knuckles were white as he gripped the wheel with all his strength, trying to make it sail in his desired direction.

They continued through the water at an unbearably slow pace, only rocking to and fro and bouncing up and down through the waves. They would occasionally hit an enormous wave that sent them slamming back down into the rut, making a horrible cracking sound and sending everyone at least a foot in the air. Jack had to lean all his weight on the wheel to avoid landing on his bad leg. He already felt more sturdy on it, but he still felt searing pain if he landed on it hard.

Suddenly the ship hit a massive wave and sent the whole front end almost vertical. Jack clamped onto the wheel again, and his feet slid out from under him. He almost hung from the wheel for a moment before the ship fell back down into the sea. Jack's stomach lurched as he felt the sensation of falling, before they hit the sea with a deafening thud and he collapsed to the deck. He heard shouts and screams behind him and scrambled to stand up so he could see what was going on. Looking over his shoulder, he saw people sliding all over the deck, some of them holding onto anything they could find and some of them dangling over the side of the ship. He saw the people who had regained their footing throwing ropes over the side to help those who were about to fall overboard.

Jack continued to battle with the wheel of his ship as they bobbed through the violent water. He felt his strength weakening by the second as he battled hundreds of pounds of ocean. Then he heard the shouts coming from behind him grow louder and clearer, and guessed the wind must be letting up.

The ship began to pound into the water less, and the Emerald came into view again. The deafening whistle coming from the wind was more quiet now, and Jack could see the clouds were blowing over to reveal the sun.

He looked straight out into the sea again and paused for a moment. Elizabeth came over to him and was telling him that everyone was still okay, when she saw him looking ahead and stopped. He grinned and looked over to her, meeting her eyes.

"Home," Elizabeth breathed, looking ahead to her house on the top of the hill in Port Royal.

---

Jack's crew scurried about the deck, preparing to anchor the ship in the bay of Port Royal. Anamaria's ship followed closely behind, anchoring close to the Pearl. Jack and Elizabeth sat in their jolly boat and prepared to row ashore, while the crew waited aboard the ships. Elizabeth looked up to Anamaria and the rest of the crew who she had befriended. Jack thought for a moment that he saw sadness in her eyes as they began rowing away. Elizabeth waved to them one last time before turning around and looking down at her hands.

"A pirate's life really is for you, ain't it luv?" Jack smiled at her.

Elizabeth looked offended at Jack's comment for only half a second, before she seemed to realise how much fun she had. She looked up and made eye contact with Jack. She said nothing and Jack looked back out to the sea as he continued to row.

"Perhaps," Elizabeth said finally, smiling a little.

Jack turned and looked at her, slightly shocked, but grinned back. They docked their little boat and Elizabeth climbed out. She looked down at Jack and smiled.

"I want to thank you Jack… If it wasn't for you I wouldn't be here right now," she said to him before leaving.

"Don't thank me, luv," he replied with a wink.

Suddenly Will came running out from the village, and stopped at the end of the dock.

"Elizabeth!" he cried, running over to her and embracing her in an enormous hug, "I knew the ships were carrying you, I knew it! I can't believe you're back! Good Lord, I thought you had died."

Jack could have had tears in his eyes as he looked at Will and Elizabeth, how happy they were to be reunited. They paid attention to nothing around them… lost in their own world. Jack looked down at the paddles he held and began to row back to his ship before the commodore heard that pirates were in the bay.

All of a sudden a hand reached out from behind him and grabbed him round the neck. He looked behind him to see one of Norrington's men grabbing hold of him, pulling him back to the dock. Jack fought uselessly as he felt his little boat slipping out from under him.

"I got 'im!" the man called as more of the soldiers came out of nowhere and began pouncing on Jack. Jack felt ropes being tied around his hands and feet, and before he knew it he was right out of the boat and laying on the dock like a fish out of water. His strength was gone and he felt absolutely useless.

"Sir, we got the pirate that kidnapped Miss Swann!" a man called out. Jack could barely believe what was happening as he tried to wriggle his way out of the dozen hands that held him to the ground.

"No!" he heard Elizabeth cry over the shouts of the men, "He's not the one who --"

It was hopeless; nobody was listening to her. He saw Will fighting the soldiers aside, soon to be pushed back as Jack was stood on his feet and dragged into the village.

"Commodore, please! I beg you! He's not the one who kidnapped me, he found me and --"

Nobody was listening to Elizabeth; or they just ignored her. Jack found himself being dragged into the core of the village, which he was all too familiar with. He was brought into the dungeons, where he was the only man in there. The same bloody dog lay in the corner, chewing on a bone which Jack guessed was of a human. The keys rested right beside the dog.

As he was thrown into the cell and fell to his knees, he still heard Elizabeth, Will, and the Commodore quarrelling behind him.

"Commodore you can't do this! Jack is a good man, he did NOT kidnap me!" Elizabeth shouted.

"Elizabeth, this man is a pirate. I am bound by the law and it is my duty to protect our society from these scoundrels," Norrington said to her through clenched teeth. There was a long moment of silence as Jack looked through the bars at them.

"Mr. Sparrow will once again have a dawn appointment with the gallows," the commodore finished quietly but firmly. He was not about to move and the other two seemed to know that. They looked sadly at Jack, and Elizabeth seemed to even have tears filling her eyes.

"It's just not right," he heard her whisper sadly to Will as they were escorted, struggling, out the door. Will embraced her and looked over his shoulder, making eye contact with Jack before Norrington swept them away up the stairs.

---

The god-forsaken drums beat loud and clear the next morning as Jack took that familiar walk to the gallows, with that rope that hung in a loop, like an open mouth waiting to clamp down on his neck. He looked over to the side, where he saw Will being watched extremely closely by more than one guard. He thought surely his crew must be coming for him this morning, seeing as they probably had to flee last night.

He stepped up the wooden stairs, slowly, one at a time, trying to make the remaining bit of his life last as long as he could. The drums vibrated in his ears and the sun reflected off the wood as he approached the top of the platform. The rope was fitted around his neck and a man began unravelling the scroll that listed his crimes.

Jack looked over to Will again. He was straining forward to try and get free, but a guard held him by the arm. Elizabeth was nowhere to be seen. He looked back to Will as the list was read, the seconds ticking by quicker than they should have been. He began to panic now as the man reached the bottom of the list. Will was being held back, his arms held by guards, his weapons not with him. The list was over, the man finished reading Jack's crimes. Why hadn't he committed more? He could have made his life longer just now by committing more crimes. Given Will more time to try and break free. Given his crew the chance to get to him, perhaps. Jack looked down at his hands, tied together, useless. He was being watched, and any moves he made would be seen. He'd have to be quick about it. But what was he to do?

The scroll was rolled back up and the man stepped off the platform. The tall, thick man with the axe came over to the lever slowly, extending his hand to pull it, ready to send Jack to his death. The whole crowd held their breath and Jack just froze on the spot. The only thing moving was his heart, which was beating faster than it had in a very long time. He watched the man's fat hand grab the lever, he watched it pull the lever down, slowly, as if time stopped for a minute.

He closed his eyes and the drums stopped beating. He heard the lever pull down and braced himself for an all-too-painful fall that was to come.

---

Nothing happened.

He snapped open his eyes and looked at the lever. It was pulled down, but Jack remained where he was. The crowd began to mumble and the commodore swiftly made his way to the stand to see what was going on.

"'s unattached to the hole, sir," the man said in a gruff voice as the commodore approached. They bent down and began to fix it as Jack began breathing again. He looked to the other side of him and thought he saw something -- yes, it was a person, climbing down one of the walls that surrounded the gallows. He looked to the other side of him. Another person climbing down that wall, with what appeared to be their cutlass clenched between their teeth. He was the only one who seemed to notice. The two people began walking towards Jack. He could make out their faces now, and he couldn't help but grin as they stepped through the murmuring crowd.

Suddenly Anamaria withdrew a small dagger and hurled it straight for the wood above Jack's head. People screamed as it hit the dead centre of the wood, breaking the rope and setting Jack free. The commodore and the other man stood up and reeled around, only to find Elizabeth hollering "NOW!!" and the two ladies charging them with weapons drawn. Jack took the rope off his neck and looked for something to free his hands. He looked up and saw the dagger still in the wood and used the blade to slice the rope. The girls were battling behind him, but the commodore's men were slow to arrive… they seemed to be held up… and the other man there only had his axe. Jack leapt up onto the bar that held the rope and shimmied across it a few feet. The man with the axe had managed to get Elizabeth on the ground and was lifting his axe up above his head to bring it down on her. He seemed to not realise this girl was the governor's daughter. Jack sat up and lunged forward as the axe was brought over the man's head. He caught the axe and wrenched it out of his hands, and the man brought nothing but air down on Elizabeth. He looked up and Jack smiled down on him before taking the axe to the side and swiping it down, knocking the man on the side of the head. The man stood there for a moment, wobbling, before he collapsed. He fell over right on Anamaria, who was attacking the commodore at the time. Soon Anamaria was falling right off the platform, landing on the ground and unable to move underneath a giant unconscious person. The commodore looked up at Jack and began moving towards him, his weapon ready. Jack stood up on the wooden bar and began walking backwards away from the commodore. Suddenly the commodore looked down and began stumbling, then fell forward right on his face. Elizabeth's leg was right under where his feet were, and she stood up and casually brushed off her pants before hopping down to help Anamaria.

The crowd was roaring in anger now, and the three outlaws had nowhere to go. Elizabeth and Ana looked up at Jack and he deviously smiled at them. They seemed to get the hint and ran up the stairs to the stand, where they began climbing up to join him on the wooden bar. Jack bent down and grabbed the rope that hung loosely, and the three balanced on the bar while Jack tied the broken ends of the rope back together. Then he swung it over his head and used it to lasso a statue that stood proudly on top of the wall. He fortunately succeeded on the first try and they now had a 'bridge' to cross from their stand to safety.

One by one, they shimmied along the rope and onto the wall. It was a difficult task with the fuming crowd hurling objects from beneath them, and knowing that the rope could snap any moment now. They finally made it to the wall and Jack looked behind him, only to have his heart lurch. The commodore had gotten up and was following them up the rope now, and there were guards coming at them from the sides. They had no time to even cut the rope to stop the commodore from coming. The three stood together and watched as they were being surrounded by armed men. Then Jack turned around and looked behind him. The wall they were standing on made a direct plunge into the sea. It was the highest distance from the sea that Jack had ever been, but it was his only way out. He exchanged a glance first with Anamaria, then with Elizabeth. They both grinned.

"Elizabeth," Jack said to her in a pompous tone, "Will you do the honours?"

Elizabeth smiled and turned around to face the crowd that rested below them.

"Ladies and gents," she called, "This is the day you will always remember as the day that you almost caught… Captain Jack Sparrow!"

She said the last three words slowly and proudly, and then they turned around and took a running jump, plummeting through the air towards the sea.

---

Jack surfaced from the water, gasping for air. Had he landed ten feet behind him, he would have hit a rock. There were specks of people looking down on them from the wall that they had just plummeted from.

He looked around and saw Anamaria swimming toward the little boat by the dock. He began to follow her, along with Elizabeth, who surfaced seconds after. Jack finally made it to the dock and scrambled up onto it. They had little time to catch their breath, for people were beginning to make their way down after them. Elizabeth pulled herself onto the dock as Jack and Anamaria got into their little boat to row back to the safety of their ships.

"Goodbye, Elizabeth," Anamaria said to her friend, hugging her in farewell.

"'Bye, Ana," she said in return. Then she turned to Jack.

"Hope to see you around, Jack," she said to him, and Jack was taken aback when she bent over and kissed him on the cheek..

Jack smiled at her and tipped his hat.

"Now you two better start rowing -- the whole village is running towards us," Elizabeth winked. She sat on the dock and let her feet hang into the cool water as she watched them paddle away, and didn't even look back when she heard people calling her name.

"… we pillage we plunder we rifle and loot…" she sang quietly.

Jack looked ahead of him and continued rowing, humming a tune along with Anamaria.

"… we kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot…" he muttered, grinning as he sang.

The town arrived to the end of the road and stared after Jack and Anamaria as they were hoisted into their ships. Elizabeth's father reached down and pulled her onto her feet. Elizabeth had no idea what kind of punishment she would face, if she were to face a punishment… but whatever it was -- it would be worth it.

The End.


End file.
